‘No more excuses for poor service, telcos must perform’

The Federal Government has declared that telecommunications operators in the country can no longer blame poor infrastructure or policy constraints for persistent network failures, insisting that the conditions needed for improved service delivery have already been put in place.

Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, stated this in a statement issued yesterday amid growing complaints by Nigerians over dropped calls, slow internet speed and unstable data connections.

Tijani said the administration inherited a telecom sector weakened by years of underinvestment in infrastructure, but noted that reforms introduced by the government were already stabilising the industry.

According to him, the Federal Government has secured World Bank-backed funding under Project BRIDGE to expand nationwide fibre infrastructure, while deployment of new telecom towers under the Nigerian Universal Communication Access Project is to begin before the end of the year.

He added that the government was also expanding satellite connectivity to improve digital access across the country.

Tijani explained that the government also introduced measures aimed at restoring stability in the telecom sector, including tariff adjustments, designation of telecom infrastructure as critical national infrastructure and tax harmonisation efforts.